Getting Ready for a Home Party!

Hope everyone is enjoying having the little ones back to school! I have slacked a little on the blog posts lately as I have been super busy getting ready for a home party on Sept.20th. With a little under 2 weeks to go until the big event I thought I would share how I have been getting ready for the event in case you wanted to have someone host a party or have an open house in your own home.

1) Inventory: Of course I never feel like I have enough stock ready. The bonus to a home party/open house is that there is no other competition. People are there to check out your wonderful array of goodies and hopefully go home with their bags loaded with lots of your treasures. I am super lucky that I also have an incredibly talented mom so I am going to bring some of her things along to help fill up the space. If you don't feel that you have enough product or if you are looking to expand your market invite a crafty friend to do the home party/open house with you, especially if they make a different product than your own. This would be an especially great option for an open house and then they can invite their friends/family/customers as well.

2) Choosing a date: Sometimes choosing a date is the hardest part! For this particular event we didn't want it to be too close to back to school or Thanksgiving so we chose a date in between. Given that both myself and the hostess are in the restaurant business we also wanted to choose a day when the least amount of fellow employees would be working (thus a Monday). Of course your perfect day will depend on your customers and your own availability but it is something to think about when planning your party.

3) The Invites: This may vary depending on how close you and the party hostess are. In this case my hostess is a good friend and a complete computer "dummy" if you will so I sent out Facebook invites to all of our mutual friends on her behalf. I will send a reminder a couple of days before the party as well. If your hostess has her own Facebook account encourage her to send out an electronic invite and she can even link to your website as a "preview" of some of your items. You could also send out old fashioned paper invites which is a nice touch. Be sure to note accepted forms of payment for the event. I also made a couple of posters to post on the staff bulletin boards at the restaurant we work at, especially for those that will be coming from work and want a reminder of her address. Invite as many people as possible. There are always those who say they are coming and then can't make it for one reason or another.

If you haven't tried a home party or open house I highly recommend it, especially if you have never sold your work in person. It's great to see people's reactions to your items and which products are of greatest interest to them...oh and some extra $$$ is always a bonus! Check back on September 21st to find out how the party went!